The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may or may not constitute prior art.
The invention proceeds from an illuminated trim strip arrangement for a motor vehicle having an end portion which forms the front-face closure of the trim strip arrangement, in particular from a trim strip arrangement which can be placed onto the vehicle body in the region of a window channel or a window frame of a motor vehicle door, wherein the end portion has an external surface, which is visible from the outside in the intended final installation state, and an internal surface not visible from the outside, which is located on the inside in the intended final installation state and onto which the light that is emitted by a light-emitting means is incident before it visibly emerges to the outside from the trim strip arrangement.
Illuminated trim strip arrangements that can be placed onto a part of a motor vehicle body in the region of a window channel or a window frame of a motor vehicle door are known, for example, from WO 2015/154972 A1 and DE 10 2014 015 186 A1. In trim strip arrangements of this type, a profiled strip is placed onto a sealing profile and supported thereby. The sealing profile in turn is placed onto the body and held there. In the final mounted state, the profiled strip arrangement forms a light gap between a lower visible edge and the adjoining external vehicle surface, from which the light emitted by a light-emitting means that is located behind the profiled strip visibly emerges to the outside. The invention also proceeds from such a trim strip arrangement below.
For a high-quality overall impression it is necessary for the light gap to be lit very uniformly over its entire length. Tests have shown that uniform lighting of the light gap over the entire length of the trim strip arrangement, i.e. in particular over the entire length of the window sill, can be achieved only with great difficulty, because lighting of the light gap or the reflections on the vehicle outer skin that are perceivable on the outside are very “sensitive” to minor changes, for example in the guiding and retaining of the light guide used as the light-emitting means. Even minor deviations or irregularities in the reflectivity of the surfaces located behind the profiled strip or in the light gap width or in the guiding, retaining and positioning of the light guide are perceived from the outside as irregular lighting of the light gap. Lighting or reflection differences that are clearly perceivable from the outside can also occur at component transitions, i.e. at locations where different components of the trim strip arrangement meet, and where, viewed in the longitudinal direction, a material or surface change occurs within the trim strip arrangement. Achieving uniform lighting in the region of the end of the trim strip arrangement is particularly difficult, because here the light guide used as the light-emitting means must kink into the vehicle interior while changing its direction of extent in a manner which is not visible from the outside, and also the trim strip arrangement must find an optically pleasing structural “closure”, which in turn requires the use of an end portion which meets these requirements.
Against this background, there is a need to provide one of the above-described trim strip arrangements having an end portion that permits uniform lighting, without negatively affecting the external appearance of the trim strip arrangement. The intention is in particular to avoid irregularities in the end region of the trim strip arrangement and in the external appearance of the trim strip arrangement when lighting the light gap, with the result that a consistently harmonious appearance is obtained over the entire length of the trim strip in the illuminated and non-illuminated state.